Archive for the ‘Releases’ Category

Self-Titled Mag from Brooklyn asked me if I would give them a little run through of my tracks for Dust. And I happily did. You can read the full article here.

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“I still remember being 16 and first hearing Meredith Monk’s Dolmen Music,” says Till Rohmann, the Berlin-based producer behind the transcendental techno project Glitterbug. “I started crying because I found music that touched me so deeply and that I felt so connected to.”

Gold Panda’s Half of Where You Live LP had a similar effect recently, leading Rohmann to join his NOTOWN roster and write Dust (due out next Monday) as a reaction to that record’s exploration of “modern urbanity and manmade things.”

“Dust takes this notion a step further and explores the urban shadows of the forgotten,” explains Rohmann, “the stories of our cities that remain untold, past landscapes that evaporated and memories left behind over time. It’s about memories, traces of things and people that were, urban sub texts and long gone landscapes and the life that inhibited these places.”

In the following exclusive feature, Rohmann shares a full album stream and the stories behind each song, from the marching orders of his “secret electric band” to the ambient closer that eases us all into a “dark, rotating, condensed abyss”…

“Dust” was one of the very last tracks I made on the album; I needed to have all the other materials ready to know what I wanted the title track to sound like. I wanted to take something from all the other tracks and bring it into one single track that sets the album’s mood. It’s pretty stark, I think… and in constant movement.

“Silent Glory” is one of the album’s most introverted tracks. I built it on thick, layered pads and sparse drum loops. It’s a very lonely track that’s slowly rising. It feels to me like taking a last glimpse of the decay before departing across the horizon.

If there ever was an ode to solitude atop a skyscraper, “47th Floor” is certainly my version of it! I could almost feel the warmth of the last rays of daylight hitting my face as a city sprawls below me. I had the idea for this track during a tour that brought us to Hong Kong, when we visited friends atop their high rise building. I have a slight fear of heights, and it was a frightening and exciting experience to stand up there and to be able to see so incredibly far (and low).

“Apparition” is an odd and funny track; maybe even a little bit sinister with its menacing rhythms and ghostly bells. Honestly, I always have to imagine a bunch of monsters dancing in the middle of the forest, in a burnt cabin or in a hole deep under the ground… It still makes me giggle every time I hear it. And yes, it’s a little spooky too.

“Far Far Light” was one of the first tracks I made for the album. I remember starting the threads of this track on a night train, passing a huuuge factory parking lot on the weekend. It was totally empty, but all the lights were still on. I just watched the endless neon lights crossing my window, like an abandoned world. And so the track follows a similar hypnotic, dark and spellbinding journey across night streets and forgotten urban landscapes. Really, this track helped me to focus more on the mood of the album, and it’s one of my personal favorites.

“When The City Was Bare” wasn’t supposed to be on this album originally; I made it for a split EP with a NYC based artist that sadly never saw the day of light. It has a lot of my very personal NYC mood in it—specifically at night, with big empty streets and buildings that peer from the shadows. In the end, the album was somehow the perfect fit for it.

It’s not clear to me if “The Stars Behind the Light” is fleeing or chasing, but it’s certainly running at immense speeds, over great distances. I imagine someone running at full speed under a meteor shower. It’s so desperate, like running after someone that you will never ever find again, or never reaching where you sought out to go.

“Intermissions” is my secret electric band as it slowly marches into the concert hall… airy, expanding, and hopeful. It’s one of Gold Panda’s favorite tracks on the album.

“1st of July” is a sunrise techno hymn that slowly builds into raving arpeggios and smothered high hats, and it’s definitely the album’s most pressing dance track. Originally, it wasn’t supposed to be on the album, but Gold Panda liked it so much that we put it on there. Mood-wise, it sticks out a little, but I grew to like that a lot and, it’s soooo much fun to perform it live!

With “Look Around” I chose to break the album mood entirely, and to pull the handbrake with all force. It also makes perfect sense to me as antidote to the album’s most eccentric track (“1st of July”), so they totally needed to be one after the other. (On the vinyl version, they share side D.) It’s a string-driven modern classical/ambient piece that closes the album and slowly pulls into a dark, rotating, condensed abyss. It’s a bit like drifting in a landfill of stories, all piled into undiluted frequencies, gentle, floating, growing, collecting, expanding, like a canvas of memories erasing itself, and thus the perfect piece to close the album.

British magazine The Skinny recently published a very nice little review about my current album both online and in their print issue. You can find the article here.

A companion piece to Gold Panda’s globetrotting electronic odyssey Half Of Where You Live, the second album from Till Rohmann, aka Glitterbug, is almost beatless for its first three tracks – following the by turns drifting and sculptured electronics of Dust and Silent Glory, 47th Floor’s syncopated, reverb-chewed beat sputters briefly into life, giving way to the spare rhythmic workout of Aparition. By the time you reach Far Far Light, a mellow slab of skeletal electro, you will be transfixed by the subtle, spacious alchemy of Rohmann’s minimalist production.

When The City was Bare, all twinkling synths and echoing, portentous drums, is a standout, as is the gently-tweaked proto-techno of 1st of July. Rohmann wanted to evoke “urban shadows of the forgotten, the stories of our cities that remain untold.” This is liminal exploration, like Eno’s Music For Airports, and ranks with albums by Konx-Om-Pax and Recondite as some of the most interesting ambient electronica of the past few years. [Bram E. Gieben]

I feel very honoured to have Sonic Router (UK) premiere the recording of our first live recording of our brand new show, entirely based on materials from my new album, Dust.You can find the full article here.

As a prelude to the release of his imminent Dust album, Glitterbug‘s kindly blessed us with the recording of the album release concert which took place in Berlin back in May. Stressing the point that it was recorded in front of a seated audience, the set drifts through live interpretations of his album material, showcasing the unique way the producer’s fourth album (but his first for Notown) builds, strolls and flows. Dust is, he explains, a record in-part inspired by Notown label owner, Gold Panda’s brilliant metropolis-evoking, travelling-influenced second LP, Half Of Where You Live.

“It picks up the pieces from that record’s celebration of modern urbanity and manmade things,” Till Rohmann (aka Glitterbug) says. “Dust takes this notion a step further and explores the urban shadows of the forgotten, the stories of our cities that remain untold, past landscapes that evaporated and memories left behind over time. It’s about memories, traces of things and people that were, urban sub texts and long gone landscapes and the life that inhibited these places.”

Incredible! On of the UKs biggest music magazines, Q, writes about Dust! It’s not often to see them write about music like mine, usually they cover the big players in the filed. But hey, I’m not complaining, just very proud!

Teutonic electronica plays tricks with sound and vision

Given he lifted his artist name from Derek Jarmans final film, it’s apt that Berlin producer Till Rohmann’s music has a distinctly cinematic feel, featuring ambient techno creations that often fade in and out of focus. Not that his fourth album, released on the label of UK techno maverick Gold Panda, is simply an electronic experiment in search of a movie. Each track evokes its own sonic world., with Silent Glory’s gentle bass pulses slashed through with bursts of white noise and Apparition mixing haunted atmospheres and jingling metallic percussion. By contrast the 4/4 techno of 1st Of July has an almost euphoroc surge, as if the otherwise introspective Rohmann had suddenly switched on his inner glitterball and overtaken by the urge to dance. *** Rupert Howe

I am super proud and happy to be able to announce: my new album is released today in Germany, the international release will be on June 9th. Get the release in a record shop near you, or support our labels directly and get it on Bandcamp! Not only is it a great platform, but you also can get the digital part in lossless quality without being charged extra. If you’re after black gold: vinyl stocks are already running low because of preorders, so be quick if you want proper double vinyl! And now, I shut up and: thanks for listening!

British magazine ‘The Skinny‘ puts Ronni Shendars video for dust in some very illustrious company… and adds it to their “Ten Rapid” selection. Find the entire article and selection here, or read below:

“In this week’s Ten Rapid playlist, we showcase videos from Savages, who share an atmospheric live performance; Richard Fearless, the main man behind Death In Vegas, makes a welcome return; Sweden’s Little Dragon go on a rural road trip; alt.rap star Akira The Don delivers his swansong; Kate Tempest takes on The Beigeness; and we deliver a triple (or even quadruple!) whammy of videos from female-fronted rock bands, with the new single from Honeyblood, the return of Courtney Love, and Garbage in collaboration with Brody Dalle. We’ll finish up with a live track from The Afghan Whigs, and some gorgeous electronica from Gold Panda affiliate Glitterbug. Everyone ready? Let’s dive in!”

“And finally, a track of stately, majestic electronica from Germany’s Glitterbug, aka Til Rohmann, signed to Gold Panda’s NOTOWN Recordings. Inspired by the work of Brian Eno and Derek Jarman, he makes the kind of expansive electronica that evokes stark landscapes and the shadow-play of natural light, and in the video, directed by Ronni Shendar, these are exactly the kind of scenes depicted. Deserts, mountains and riverbeds drift dreamily past the camera as the beatless electronic compositions of Rohmann pulse and glow. It’s the perfect end to our Friday playlist.”